Girl Code (23 page)

“I didn’t think about it and it didn’t come up,” I managed to say.

Beautiful,” he whispered. “I know you, and I know your story and I know who you are, but I want to know every detail.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt his lips, warm and soft on the tattoo. I started to pull away, but a firm hand planted on my stomach kept me just where Leo wanted me.

“I want to know every sentence.” Another kiss landed on the first fallen page. “Every question and every answer.” My eyes fluttered and my breath left my body in a ragged exhalation when he kissed yet another page. “I want to know what you’re hiding on those curled pages.” His lips touched me yet again. “What has you torn…” Another kiss, another page. “Who or what has burned you…” Warm kiss on a different page. “And I want to know who and what has crushed you.” The crumpled page received his lightest kiss as I struggled to breathe.

He wrapped his other arm around me and his warm breath danced across the skin on my neck when he spoke. “I want to know every letter, Tabitha.”

We were both quiet for several moments as Leo simply held me and planted small kisses along my shoulder. Every kiss made me tremble. Every kiss was a tiny jolt of electricity on my skin.

“I know you care about hurting Leslie,” Leo started quietly. “I don’t want to hurt her either, but I love you, Tabitha. It’s always been you. Maybe it makes me cruel, but I would sacrifice hurting her to have you. I would sacrifice the world to have you. In the end, nothing or no one else matters but you. My love for you is unfading. It will never lessen, it will never stop, it will never die. It doesn’t matter how much you deny us; we are an
us
. You love me. You want me just as much as I want you or you wouldn’t still be here.”

My heart was melting into liquid fire and spreading through every part of my body. Leo’s next words only fueled that flame.

“Tonight, I am going to take you to dinner and to see the fireworks. When we return here, I am going to take you out of this dress, worship every inch of your body, and make love to you all night. This is non-negotiable. Nothing is going to stop me from showing you how much I love you, how much I have always loved you. Nothing is going to stop you from giving me your love tonight, Tabitha, not even you. Now grab a sweater or jacket. It will be chilly by the time the fireworks start.”

With that, Leo stepped away from me. I stood there, stunned for several seconds until Leo lightly touched my elbow, inciting me to move. Awkwardly, I walked a few steps to the couch and picked up the black cardigan that came with the dress. I draped it over my arm and hesitantly looked at Leo’s face. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning; he was serious. He held out his hand to me. I inhaled a deep breath that wasn’t as fortifying as I hoped it would be, and then I walked to him. I took his hand and let him lead me out of the hotel room to start our unforgettable night.

In lazy repetition, Leo’s fingers trailed down the column of my neck, over my bare shoulder, and traced the tattoo from start to finish before following the path back up and over my shoulder and back up my neck. Every couple of minutes, his lips would find a different place on my skin, heedless to the other patrons in the dimly lit restaurant, or our poor waiter who tried to pretend that Leo wasn’t practically eating me as an appetizer.

Sitting across the table from each other was never an option to him. He guided me to my chair and sat down right beside me, leaving the other side of the table open and leaving me open to anything he wanted to do to me.

“You’re so soft and smooth,” he murmured, landing a kiss just below my ear. I inhaled a shuddering breath.

“You should probably eat your dinner before it gets cold,” I suggested, though I really didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop. I closed my eyes briefly as his fingers made another pass over my neck, soaking in the bit of pleasure.

“I only want dessert.” His other hand found my knee, and I was ever so thankful for the lack of lighting and the long table linen to hide what he was doing. His fingers crawled up my leg and under the hem of my dress as I struggled not to react automatically and slam my legs closed. About mid-thigh, he stopped and traced a circle on my inner thigh with his thumb. The jolts of sensation it sent to my core left me gasping softly and wriggling slightly in my seat.

I picked up my glass of wine and was disappointed to see only a few drops left. I reached for the bottle that had been left for us, but Leo’s hand that was under my dress quickly shot up and stopped me by gently grabbing my wrist.

“No, Tabitha,” he said quietly, but firmly. “I want you lucid tonight. If you want to feel drunk, I will make you drunk off of me and the amazing things I will do to you. I will make your head spin, make you feel high, and just when your toes begin to touch the ground, I’m going to make them curl and you will peak again.”

My breathing failed me and my heart did, too, when I felt his teeth graze my earlobe.

“Are we going to actually eat dinner?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“I guess I should let you eat.” He sounded disappointed, but then whispered in my ear, “You are going to need all of the energy you can get, but truth be told…” A small whimper moved in my throat when Leo’s teeth sunk briefly into my neck, followed by a flick of his tongue. “I only have an appetite for you.”

I eyed the wine bottle longingly, and Leo noticed.

“You don’t need that, amore mio bellissimo,” Leo purred in my ear. “The only thing you need tonight is me.”

I shivered and tried to concentrate on cutting through a flaky piece of fish with my fork. I managed to get it into my mouth, but I couldn’t taste it. I knew it had to be delicious, it looked delicious, but my mouth watered for the man beside me who was unable to stop touching me and nothing else.

“Are you wearing a bra?” Leo asked. I almost choked on my food. I reached for my glass of water and practically drowned myself in it.

“Yes,” I managed.

“Good,” he approved. “Because when I flick your nipples with my thumbs, bite them, suck on them, and pinch them, the fabric rubbing against them will heighten your pleasure.”

He trailed a finger over my dress between my breasts, but was careful not to actually touch them, which somehow seemed worse. I felt my nipples swell against the lace of my half bra and just barely resisted the urge to touch them myself.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to survive dinner with Leo, let alone being in bed with him later. I felt feverish in the best possible way, hot all over, beads of sweat forming at the nape of my neck and on my forehead. His perpetual touching of me all over my body, anywhere within reach, was making me feel manic, with a racing heart, a racing mind, and my body in constant motion as I absorbed every touch, every kiss, and every whisper on my skin. At this rate, he was going to kill me with tactility.

“How many times do you think I will make you come tonight?” Leo murmured as his fingers moved under my dress again. “How many times do you think you’ll call out my name while your back arches off of the bed, while your perfect tits are in my mouth and I’m thrusting inside of you?”

“You might be disappointed,” I whispered as I managed to drag in a ragged breath.

“Why?” Another kiss on my shoulder, but his hand under my dress stilled.

I was actually nervous to tell him the truth, that as much as I enjoyed sex, I almost never climaxed. It was an anomaly, a rare occurrence, and to date the most intense orgasm I had ever had was the one that Leo gave me just before I sent him away.

I felt Leo’s eyes burning a hole in the side of my head, so I exhaled and told him.

“I am not a multiple kind of girl,” I said softly, glancing at him. “Most of the time I’m not even a…single kind of girl.”

“You can only come once?” he asked, stroking my arm with his knuckles.

“If at all,” I admitted.

“But you came for me before,” he said as if I needed reminding. “And it didn’t take me a long time to get you there. If things were different, who knows how many more times it could have happened.”

Leo was good at what he did, but I had my doubts.

“You know, it doesn’t matter,” Leo said, turning my head gently with his fingers. I met his eyes and the flames inside of me rose a little higher. “It doesn’t matter because those other guys aren’t me. I don’t care about what they did or didn’t do for you. I only care about what I can and will do for you.”

So quickly, that I had no time to prepare myself, Leo’s hand shot up between my legs and two fingers slid over my dampening panties and then he swiftly removed his hand before anyone could see. My fork dropped to my plate with a loud clatter as I gasped and moaned softly and my legs clenched and quivered.

Leo’s lips were at my ear again. “I will make you come again and again until you are too weak to move or even speak. I promise you that.”

The fireworks display at Disney was nothing short of spectacular. The first two nights we saw them, I was just as giddy and excited as the small children that were around us. Leo later told me that he watched my face more than he watched the light show. This time, my excitement was different.

Instead of standing beside me as he had the previous two nights, Leo stood behind me like he did in the hotel room. His arms were wrapped securely around me and my back was flush with his chest. Being in his arms like that made my body tingle and my heart beat a little faster. I stared up at the color-flamed sky with a deeper appreciation and love for Leo. For entirely too many years, I hid away my feelings for him, too afraid to hurt my friend, to lose her, but it wasn’t until Leo admitted what he had done for me that I realized that, I, too, was ready to sacrifice Leslie for a life with Leo. Our friendship had been over for years. I was hanging on to her with some weird desperation, and honestly, it felt easier to deal with knowing that she and Leo had not been together in more than ten years. In the end, he wanted me and I wanted him. He didn’t want her, and she apparently didn’t want him, either.

I shifted slightly and tilted my head up to peer at Leo. He was already watching me, not the fireworks. Without a word, his head moved slowly and our lips met. Instantly, I opened, letting him in. He kissed me slowly, like he was relishing in the taste of me and didn’t want to devour me too quickly. Leo still tasted like candy, sweet, delicious, and addicting.

His hands began to move, caressing my midsection in slow circles. When one hand cupped and then squeezed a breast, I gasped, but it was swallowed by his kiss. His thumb brushed over a hardening nipple and I groaned softly. My eyes were closed, but I could see the bursts of light beyond my lids, and then lights burst again from within me when the nipple on my other breast was lightly pinched. Leo pressed his erection against me and I pressed back before coming to my senses. We were in a very public, very family friendly place. It was dark, but the fireworks were bright enough to make the night appear to be daytime.

I pulled away from Leo’s mouth and pushed his hands off of my chest. He sighed heavily as I turned back to the extravaganza over the water. I bit my bottom lip as I considered something, and then quickly made my decision. I turned in Leo’s arms and gestured for him to lean down so I could speak in his ear.

“Let’s go,” I said.

“Don’t you want to see the finale?” he asked in my ear. He took that opportunity to nibble on my earlobe, making my decision all that much easier.

“We can create our own explosive finale,” I said, quickly brushing my hand across the front of his jeans, making him inhale sharply.